1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an integrated media system and method structured to integrate a plurality of multi-media content and/or services to facilitate interactive electronic distribution through at least one network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As technology continues to expand into a variety of new and exciting developments, people of today's society have embraced innovative ways of communicating with each other and/or gathering information, such as news, currents events, gossip, etc. More in particular, society has become more and more dependent on the Internet for communication with friends and family, as well as a gateway for gathering news and other related information. For example, friends and family have come to rely heavily on electronic mail and/or live chat to stay in contact and/or to communicate with each other. Further, as new communicative technology continues to be developed, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video conferencing over the Internet, and short messaging service (sms), people tend to embrace such new technological developments and rely on them for their main source of communication.
Furthermore, as the Internet continues to expand and influence the day-to-day activities of today's society, hard copies or printed copies of newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other similar books or publications may become less and less prominent. This may partially be due to the fact that people have come to rely on the Internet as their main source of gathering information, such as the news, current events, sports updates, stock quotes, and the like.
Further, while reading the news, sports entertainment, or celebrity or public gossip, the reader may want to contact the author of a particular article, painting, or photograph. Moreover, the reader may want to criticize or comment on the article, or to otherwise strike up conversation with the author or other contact person. Additionally, people are always looking for easier ways to reach or contact sellers/buyers of items such as automobiles or houses shown or advertised in the classified ads section of a newspaper or magazine.
In addition, may people who choose not to embrace new communicative technology, whether it be communication services, such as Voice over Internet Protocol, live Internet chat, short messaging service, or even interactive multi-media, do so merely because they are not exposed to the technology.
Accordingly, there is a current need in the art for a new integrated media system structured to combine or integrate a plurality of new, innovative and communicative developments into one easy-to-use system. More in particular, it would be beneficial if the proposed integrated media system includes one or more communication modules structured to communicate news, current events, sports updates, stock quotes, and the like to one or more users of a client interface. In addition, the proposed integrated media system may further include one or more communication services structured to facilitate friends and family to communicate with each other and remain in close contact. It would further be beneficial of the proposed integrated media system were structured to facilitate the users to communicate with the authors, editors, or creators of the communication modules, such as news articles, magazine excerpts, and the like.
Thus, the proposed integrated media system may include one or more media management systems, including, for example, a web or Internet server, and one or more client interfaces. It would be particularly advantageous, if the media management system and client interface are disposed in communicative relation with at least one network, such as, for example, the Internet. Accordingly, the proposed integrated media system may be easily and conveniently accessed from anywhere in the World where an Internet, or other network connection may be established.